


Big City Nights

by AshGunnywolf



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Setting, Body Horror, Dogs, Drugs, Food, Insects, M/M, Murder, Partying, Past Abuse, Scars, Spiders, mafia, nightclubs, sex work mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 14:27:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29543751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshGunnywolf/pseuds/AshGunnywolf
Summary: Kylo Ren has just entered an entirely new world in the criminal underground. Receiving a mystical animal spirit called a stand to help him in his work as a hitman, he grows close to Hux, Snoke's personal bookkeeper, and revels in the nightlife of the city.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Big City Nights

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for the Kylux AU Zine and it's probably the piece I'm proudest of at this point in my development as a writer.  
> I made a playlist as inspiration to help me write: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/32RolicknWGurKRocOySB8?si=f3799d4148ca4f40

"You have done well, my young friend," Snoke purred from behind his desk. "You have succeeded at every task I have assigned to you. I believe you are ready to join my Knights.”  
Kylo Ren stood proud but schooled his face to remain stern. “Thank you, sir.” He’d eagerly and happily served Snoke’s organization, known only as the Order, for three years, and he was more than ready to be inducted into Snoke’s personal squad of assassins. He was born for this role.  
The old man with a scarred face leaned forward. “Are you prepared?” A deadly leer spread across his face, like a spider would grin at a fly trapped in its net. “Prepared for anything? Your final test awaits.”  
Kylo did not fear the devil behind the desk. He’d been playing with fire all his life. “Yes, sir.”  
“Good.” Snoke snapped his fingers, and Kylo was shot through the heart.  
So many things happened in rapid succession. He felt his spine shatter, then his organs tear, ripping a gaping hole in his heart, and he looked down at just the right moment to see a golden arrowhead the size of his palm crack through his breastbone and emerge from the center of his chest. Blood and shredded guts clung to the arrowhead and dribbled down onto his lap as he collapsed to the floor. He felt his senses fading, wondering why Snoke would betray his loyalty like this…  
...and then his senses returned. He caught his breath. He was alive.  
Snoke leaned back in his chair. “I knew you would survive. Men of your mettle usually do.” He crooked a finger, and the arrow continued to slide out of Kylo’s chest, and Kylo began to make out a thin pearlescent thread wrapped around the wooden shaft, pulling it out of him.  
“Can you see my darling pet now?” Snoke gestured to the space above Kylo’s head. “Gaze upon my stand, Web Weaver.”  
He looked up and almost shrieked. A gigantic bone-white spider, about the size of a basketball, dangled above his head. He realized with disgust that it had no hard exoskeleton like an ordinary spider, but was covered in paper-thin veiny skin like an old woman’s hands. The longer he looked, the more threads he saw all about the room.  
No, not threads. Strands of the spider’s web.  
Snoke laughed at his discomfort. “I take it you can see what my stand has done to the room. No need to be frightened, this has been here all along. You should be more afraid of the things you can’t see than what is right in front of you. Hux!”  
The clacking of a familiar pair of shoes came down the hall, and Kylo turned his head to see Armitage Hux open the door. “You called, sir?”  
Hux, Kylo knew, was Snoke’s personal bookkeeper and assistant. He was possibly the only person more crucial to the Order than Snoke himself. He was a very ordinary man by design. He wore black almost exclusively, occasionally deigning to include a solitary pop of color in his outfits. One day it would be a red tie, the next a pair of gold cufflinks. Nothing too exciting, to the point that Kylo suspected he deliberately intended to be ignored. He eschewed the opulence of the lifestyle his peers enjoyed. No parties, no sex, and no mind-altering substances.  
His physical appearance was a different story. He was rather tall and quite thin, only two inches shorter than Kylo. His skin was pale and had a tendency to freckle under exposure to the sun, so he always smelled of coconut-scented sunscreen in addition to his cologne. His eyes were greenish grey, like the sea on a stormy day. He had perfect posture, often resembling a ballet dancer with the noble way he held his shoulders back and his chin high. His hair was a rich shade of red, like the sunrise.  
“Escort our friend home.” Snoke opened a leather-bound tome and waved his hand dismissively. “He’s a bit weak at the moment, but he should recover. I can't have one of my best assassins falling unconscious in the street.”  
“Yes, sir.” Hux helped Kylo to his feet and accompanied him out the door. Kylo noticed that Hux did not flinch as the fleshy spider - Web Weaver - lowered itself next to his head.  
Once they were outside the building, Kylo asked, “You can’t see that thing?”  
“What, his stand?” Hux shook his head. “Only stand users can see stands.” He opened the passenger side door of his car, a sleek grey Bentley, for Kylo, who slid in and slumped down into the seat.  
“You mean… it really has been there this entire time, and I just couldn’t see it?” Kylo shivered at the thought of that hideous beast dangling in front of his face, yet being unable to see it.  
“That’s correct.” Hux patted Kylo’s shoulder. “It’s best not to think about it.” He shut the door and walked around to the driver's seat.  
Kylo puzzled over this. “Does that mean I have a gross spider thing now?”  
Hux laughed, a sharp, almost mocking sound. “You mean you don’t know anything about stands? Who kept you in the dark like this?”  
Kylo scowled. “Fuck off, just tell me what’s going on.”  
“A stand is the physical manifestation of your spirit. The arrow gives you the ability to create and control your stand,” Hux explained. “Everyone’s stand is different, or so I’m told. I can’t see them, you know, but I’ve seen the different things they can do.”  
“Why don’t you have a stand?” Kylo asked.  
Hux tugged at the shredded and bloodied hole in Kylo’s shirt. “Most people don’t survive the arrow. Even if I wanted a stand, Snoke would never let me risk my life like that. I’m too important to him.”  
“Oh.” Kylo couldn’t help but feel hurt that Snoke, to some extent, gambled on his life without his consent. “That makes sense.”  
Hux drove in silence until they reached Kylo’s house. Kylo got out of the car, opened the front door, and went inside, but Hux stopped him before he shut the door.  
“What is it?”  
“Could you… summon your stand?” Hux tilted his head.  
“Why? You can’t see it.” Kylo pulled the door, but Hux held it fast.  
“You can tell me about it.”  
Kylo sighed. He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated, though he wasn’t sure exactly what to concentrate on. When he opened his eyes, there was definitely something there in the shadow. A formless blur, like fog.  
He gasped. “It’s there.”  
Hux nodded. "What does it look like?"  
"Like…" The creature's hazy form came into clearer view. "Like a big black dog."  
"A sheepdog or a lab?"  
Kylo watched it sniff the air. Kylo counted the glistening white teeth in its gaping maw and shivered at the sight of its empty sockets. "A Doberman. It's enormous. It's got the biggest mouth I've ever seen, and it doesn't have any eyes."  
"That's unusual. Tell me more." Hux’s eyes glittered with curiosity.  
As the beast paced around in front of him, walking into the beam of his porch light, Kylo noticed the light catching on its back in an unusual manner. It was like rainbows were woven into the fur. "It kind of… shimmers. Like oil on water."  
Hux beamed. "It sounds beautiful. What do you think you'll call it?"  
"I don't know." Kylo examined the beast. "Black Dog? Blind Dog? No, that's stupid."  
"Diamond Dog? Like the David Bowie song?" Hux suggested.  
"Diamond Dog." Kylo reached down and stroked its head, and a pleasant chuff came from its mouth. "I think he likes it."

His first job since gaining Diamond Dog came surprisingly early. Three days of studying the beast, examining it, learning how it responded to his command, and an order was already passed down to him through Hux.  
They met at a restaurant, an Italian establishment called Tonio’s. It was apparently very chic, as he’d been asked to dress up for the meal, and among the clientele he recognized a few familiar faces from the news and the tabloids on the street. He found Hux wearing all black with a silver tie pin, sipping from a glass of water.  
“Hello, Ren. They brought wine to our table, but I don’t drink. Care for a glass?” He offered the bottle to Kylo.  
He took the bottle. “Sure, why not.” He poured himself a glass and took a drink. He didn’t know much about wine, but it tasted expensive somehow. The Order was rife with luxuries he never even dreamed of indulging himself with.  
They ordered their meals, Hux a seafood risotto and Kylo roasted lamb. They made idle small talk about the weather and current events and the latest soccer news.  
Then Hux tapped Kylo’s leg with his foot and silently mouthed, “Here’s the file on the target.” The manila folder was discreetly passed under the table, and Kylo slid it into his suit jacket.  
“Do you want to order dessert? I hear the tiramisu here is to kill for.”  
Kylo almost laughed. To kill for. Funny. “Tiramisu sounds nice.”

The target was a drug peddler who'd been selling counterfeit club drugs cut with dangerous chemicals. Snoke wouldn't care about people getting sick if it didn't hurt his profits, but paying full price for cheap shit that kills customers isn't the best business plan, so he had Kylo step in and exact retribution.  
The target only ever went outside to visit clubs and pick up hookers, and that was a vice he indulged often. All Kylo had to do was pick a sleazy joint and lie in wait.  
He dressed for the occasion in a neon green crop top, tight pleather pants, and his pair of docs, and he sipped on a virgin cocktail. Ordinarily he would indulge in a little alcohol, but it was better to keep the mind sharp for tonight.  
He watched from the shadows, moving in time with the throbbing music. He'd forgotten how much fun clubbing was, losing himself in the crowd of sweaty bodies in ecstacy, fruity cocktails and dance music taking control of his body. He would often go out to clubs and bars with friends in his teenage years and early twenties, before he got caught up in the work of the Order. Perhaps he'd go clubbing again sometime soon, when he didn't have a job to do.  
There! The target entered the bar, immediately recognizable with that cheap combover that didn't belong here among the twenty-somethings that populated the dance floor. The target made a beeline for a young woman against the wall wearing a faux fur coat and fishnets.  
Kylo whispered under his breath, "Diamond Dog."  
His stand sprang to life, ready for orders, teeth bared.  
"Take him out."  
Diamond Dog barked, a raucous and harsh sound, and the dance floor cracked. A woman screamed, "Earthquake!" The windows shattered, the crowd scattered. People tripped over each other to get out onto the street. Diamond Dog took the cover of chaos to charge at the target and tear out his throat, making blood spray on the walls and crumbled floor. He was dead before he had time to react.  
His assignment complete, Kylo stumbled out covered in dust, let paramedics look him over and check him for injuries, and took a taxi home. He took a long hot shower and went to bed, sleeping soundly all night.

The next day at lunch, Hux stopped by his table. “Expect payment soon. You’ve done well.”  
Kylo smiled. “Thank you.” He hesitated. “Listen, with this new payment, I’ve got a couple thousand dollars burning a hole in my pocket, just begging for me to blow them on something frivolous. How do you feel about a night on the town?”  
“Oh, I don’t know…” Hux smiled in that unique way of his where the corners of his mouth turn down. “I’m too much of a homebody to have that kind of fun.”  
“I insist.” Kylo squeezed his hand. “I’ll take you to a nice dinner first, then we can have some fun at a really upscale club. The kind of place you’d like, no rabble. The moment you want to leave, that’s it, I take you home.”  
Hux bit his lip. “Alright, but I don’t like loud parties very much. We may have to retire after dinner.”  
“I’ll take it. See you at six.”

The restaurant they went to wasn’t quite as nice as Tonio’s, but it was very high-end. It was a sushi place, chosen because Kylo wanted to impress Hux with a little showmanship. The atmosphere was very clean and tidy, with minimal decoration on the walls. The draw was sitting at the bar and watching the chef prepare the fish from behind his counter.  
Hux came in wearing a royal blue tie and silver cufflinks with blue gems to match his tie. “I hope I’m not too late, there was a bit of traffic on the way here.”  
“Not at all, sit down.” Kylo stood and pulled out Hux’s chair for him.  
Hux sat down and picked up the menu, grimacing. “It’s been some time since I last had sushi, and it was the Westernized stuff, so I’ll need some help with ordering. Remind me what the difference between maki and uramaki is?”  
Kylo leaned over Hux’s shoulder and explained, “Maki has the seaweed on the outside of the rice, uramaki has rice on the outside.”  
“Oh.” Hux furrowed his brow. “What are you having?”  
“I usually go with omakase.” When Kylo saw Hux’s confusion, he elaborated, “That means it’s the chef’s choice what I eat.”  
“Oh, okay.” Hux bit his lip as he looked over the menu. “I think I’ll do that too. Easier than trying to choose for myself.”  
“You’re sure?”  
Hux shrugged. “Why not? I’m not a picky eater.”  
Kylo relayed his and Hux’s orders to the chef, who smiled and nodded curtly. He began preparing their first dish, and Kylo noticed Hux watching in awe. The chef must have noticed as well, as he began working little flourishes with his knife into the preparation.  
Their first serving was salmon sashimi. Hux followed Kylo’s lead, picking up the thin filets with chopsticks and dipping them in the soy sauce. He huffed when he dropped a piece in the soy sauce, making Kylo laugh.  
“Don’t laugh at me,” Hux growled in frustration, “I haven’t used chopsticks in years.”  
“Alright, alright, damn, I’m sorry,” Kylo chuckled before putting another piece of sashimi in his mouth.  
Up next was squid nigiri. Hux stared as Kylo grabbed it with his bare hands and popped it into his mouth.  
Kylo noticed and forced himself not to laugh again. “You’re supposed to pick them up with your fingers, I haven’t forgotten my manners.”  
“Oh.” Hux deflated, looking a bit sheepish, and picked his own up and ate it.  
After they completed that, they were served temaki cones with tuna. Hux smiled. “These are cute!”  
Kylo raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You like cute things?”  
“What, do I not seem like the type?” Hux teased.  
“No, you don’t. You’re so serious.”  
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Hux winked and put the temaki in his mouth.  
“Apparently.”  
After being served gunkan sushi with salmon roe, Kylo paid for their meal and escorted Hux out. “Now for the really fun part. Are you ready?”  
“As I’ll ever be.”  
“That’s what I like to hear.”  
Kylo had his eye on a very special nightclub, very upscale, one that only the most elite could even dream of entering. The Heartbeat.  
They could smell the mixture of alcohol, cologne, and citrus from the sidewalk outside. Kylo skipped the line and whispered a few words to the bouncer, and he and Hux were allowed inside.  
Kylo bobbed his head in time with the music as he guided Hux to the bar. “I’ll have a cosmo,” he shouted to the bartender, “and my friend will have a…” He looked to Hux.  
“A Shirley Temple!” Hux filled in.  
The bartender replied, “Coming right up, sirs.”  
Kylo leaned over and spoke into Hux’s ear, “A fucking Shirley Temple? You’re at a fucking nightclub!”  
Hux answered, “I told you I don’t drink!”  
“Come on, you Puritan,” Kylo teased, “let yourself go a little tonight. I won’t let you get wasted.”  
Hux rolled his eyes. “After I finish my Shirley Temple, then maybe I’ll order a shot. For you.”  
“That’s what I like to hear! Now come on, let’s dance!”

On the dance floor, Hux kept that stiff posture, but he did step from side to side in time with the throbbing bass. Kylo embraced the buzz of the alcohol in his brain and let the cosmopolitan control his body. He knew Hux found his dancing amusing from the sound of that sharp laugh, but he didn’t care. He was here to have fun.  
When he decided he was ready for more, he moseyed over to the bar and ordered four shots. “Huuux!” he called. “Don’t make me drink all of these by myself!”  
Hux sneered, “You’re kidding.” He took two shots in his hand and held one to his nose, grimacing at the scent. He sipped a bit off the top and stuck his tongue out in disgust. “Oh, yuck!”  
Kylo laughed, “You’re not supposed to sip it! Swallow it all at once. You don’t do shots for the taste, you do shots to get drunk!”  
“I don’t want to get drunk!”  
“Buzzed! Buzzed, that’s all! Now bottoms up!” Kylo downed his shots and grinned.  
Hux glowered. “Fine. But only because you already paid for this.” He drank his, one after the other, and coughed. “Disgusting.”  
“Good boy!” Kylo set the shot glasses aside on an empty table and put a hand on Hux’s shoulder. “Now let’s really dance. Loosen up.”  
Hux tried to dance, and as the shot took hold of him, his posture grew more fluid, and he swayed his hips. He grabbed Kylo’s hands and placed them on his waist. “You wanna dance? Let’s dance.”  
Kylo pulled Hux’s body against his, their hips crashing together. Hux yelped, making himself laugh. He slung his own arms up over Kylo’s shoulders and laughed as Kylo ground their hips together.  
The club blurred into a haze of pink, purple, and blue, the scent of sweat and sugary alcohol flooding the senses. Nothing was clear except Hux’s sunrise hair and his killer smile, the most uninhibited Kylo had ever seen him.  
When he felt himself beginning to stumble, he pulled himself away from Hux and stepped into the quieter VIP area to call for a car.  
Hux followed him and asked, “Why’d you leave?” He pouted and hanged off Kylo’s arm.  
“I called a car to come pick us up.”  
“Oh. How long before it gets here?”  
“I dunno, ten minutes? Why?”  
Hux impishly grinned and pointed to a glass-top table in the corner where a man was bent over with his face almost pressed to the glass. “Enough time to do a little blow.”  
“Hux!” Kylo gasped. “You don’t like to drink, but you’ll snort coke?! Where did this naughty boy come from?”  
“I used to do coke a lot in my twenties. I kicked the habit, but I feel like breaking the rules tonight. What do you say?”  
Kylo rolled his eyes, but Hux’s pleading eyes wore him down. “Alright, you cokehead.” He patted Hux on the head and purchased a small baggie from the dealer. “You wanna go first?”  
Displaying fluid motion that could only be muscle memory after years of practice, Hux used a credit card to form tidy twin lines of powder without a single fleck out of place. He rolled up a twenty and bent over the table, snorting the line up into his nose. He shot straight up and grunted, his eyes wide. “Fuck yes, I’d forgotten how good this feels!”  
“Alright alright, my turn.” Kylo took the twenty from Hux and tried his best to carefully line up the end of the roll with the line, even if his blurred vision inhibited him. He inhaled hard, causing the powder to travel up the bill into his nose. The first thing he noticed was the sharp burn. He winced as he finished off the line and rubbed his nose once he was done. “Shit, it fucking burns!”  
“So does alcohol, you big baby,” Hux teased, playfully punching his shoulder. “I feel like I’m twenty-five again!”  
“How long before this shit really kicks in?”  
“I dunno, ten minutes?” Hux stumbled into a wall and leaned against it to stay upright.  
“So we’ll get trashed while we’re in the car?”  
“Yup!”

When the car arrived, a sleek black vehicle Kylo couldn’t recognize with his blurred vision, they got in and popped open the bottle of champagne waiting for them. The cork hit the ceiling, making them laugh harder. Kylo took a swig directly from the bottle, the bubbles tickling his nose, and passed it to Hux, who also drank straight from the bottle before setting it back in the ice bucket.  
He rolled down the window and stuck his head out to shout at bar crawlers on the sidewalk, “I’m king of the fucking wooooorld!”  
Kylo laughed and followed Hux’s lead, shouting, “I’m gonna live forever!”  
“Yeaaah!” Hux cheered, pumping his fist.  
“Woooo!” Kylo shouted. He pulled his head back into the car, laughing. It had been quite some time since he did something that silly, and it felt fantastic. Not giving a fuck about what people think of him. The Order was so obsessed with aesthetics and professionalism, it felt good to cut loose.  
Hux pulled back into the car, rolled his head around to face Kylo, and looked deep into Kylo’s eyes, that sea-green gaze casting a spell on him. “I want to kiss you.”  
Kylo smiled and took the invitation. Hux’s lips tasted sweet, like the Shirley Temples he’d been drinking, but something else was there too. Perhaps a flavored chapstick - vanilla, or maybe strawberry.  
Hux tangled his fingers in Kylo’s hair and moaned against his lips. Forget ecstasy, this was the best high of the night. He could listen to that sound forever and never tire of it.

Kylo woke up in the morning with a haze in his head. He felt sweaty and gross, realizing he hadn’t taken a shower before getting in bed. He’d have to change the sheets in the evening; he hated getting the grime of the day in his bed.  
A faint snoozing sound alerted him to the presence of another person in bed with him. He rolled over and saw Hux’s signature red hair.  
Oh.  
“Hux. Hux, wake up.” Kylo gently nudged Hux’s shoulder.  
“Hmm?” Hux rubbed his bleary eyes and squinted at the early morning sunlight coming in through the window. “Kylo?”  
“Yeah, it’s me.” Kylo pushed the blanket off himself and got out of bed. “You probably have somewhere to be. You should get going. You can shower first, I can wait.”  
Hux shook his head, still squinting and pouting a bit. “No, you go ahead and shower. I’ll shower at home.” He picked his clothes up off the floor and put them on. When he sat up and slung his legs over the edge of his bed, Kylo noticed several little puckered circles on his shoulders. Scars from cigarette burns.  
Best to pretend he didn’t see that.  
Kylo ambled toward the bathroom, and Hux slid on his shoes. “I had a really good time last night. I think I’d like to do it again sometime, but maybe skip the nightclub. I still have a bit of a headache from the liquor and the music.”  
“So you want me to take you out to sushi again?”  
Hux ran his fingers through his sweaty hair plastered to his forehead. “And everything after. I’ll see you later.”  
“See you.” Kylo turned on the shower and stood under the downpour of hot water as Hux left.

Several months passed. Kylo took jobs, sometimes going through the effort of causing an earthquake as a distraction, sometimes simply staging an animal attack. He fell into a groove of getting a check, inviting Hux to dinner to celebrate, and bringing him home after. Sometimes he went to clubs and got pleasantly tipsy. A few times he did a little ecstasy, a little coke. After all, what good was being a career criminal if he didn’t enjoy the nightlife?  
Then the underworld exploded with news that Snoke had been admitted to the hospital. He’d suddenly fallen ill and was having his stomach pumped in the emergency room.  
This was not normal, Kylo knew. Snoke was not a healthy man by any means, he probably should have died ten years ago, but in their line of work, suddenly falling ill meant being poisoned. He took a car to the hospital where Snoke was being treated as quickly as he could.  
Once he reached the waiting room, he sat down in an empty chair and picked up a magazine to read. He sent Diamond Dog down the hall to listen in - the stand may not be able to see for him, but he could hear. The beast plodded down the hallway with his heavy paws and slowly found his way to the room where they were keeping Snoke.  
“I don’t know what’s going on, it’s like his body is producing this on its own.” A woman's voice.  
A man replied, “That’s impossible, we tested what he’s vomiting. It’s bleach.”  
The woman spoke again, “I know it’s not possible, but he just keeps vomiting more and more of it. How do you explain that?”  
Kylo was so engrossed in eavesdropping he didn’t notice someone sat down next to him until they nudged his elbow. “Going to turn the page soon, or is this tutorial on applying perfect eyeliner just that riveting for you?”  
“Hux.” He looked up from the magazine and smiled at the friendly face. “You’re here.”  
“Of course I’m here.” Hux placed his hand on Kylo’s shoulder. “He’s my employer, and you’re my friend. I need to be the first to know what happens to him.”  
Kylo looked over his shoulder, then leaned in to whisper, “I’ve got Diamond Dog listening in for me. Apparently his stomach is full of bleach.”  
Hux’s eyebrows shot up. “He was poisoned?”  
“I don’t think so. He’s thrown up a lot, and it hasn’t stopped. He wouldn’t be tricked into drinking that much bleach, and there aren’t any physical signs of struggle on his body, so he wasn’t forced. No, it’s the work of a stand user.”  
“A stand user.” Hux’s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked down into his lap. “Is there anything you can do?”  
“Unless I figure out how it’s being done or identify the user who’s putting the bleach inside him, I’m just dead weight.”  
Hux’s expression grew worried. “You don’t think… it could come after us?”  
Kylo hadn’t thought of that. “I think it could.”  
Hux gripped Kylo’s arm and shook it. “Then let’s get out of here!”  
“You go. I can’t just let him die. I made a promise, I swore fealty to him.”  
Hux shook his head. “But I can’t let you die.”  
Kylo brushed a loose strand of ginger hair behind Hux’s ear. “I’ll be okay. I have my Diamond Dog to protect me. I’ll call you if anything happens, okay?”  
“Okay.” Hux stood up and turned to go, then paused and turned back, his sea-green eyes full of worry. "I love you."  
Kylo's eyes grew wide. "I… I love you too."  
“Be safe. Please.” And with that, Hux left, and Kylo was alone.

Kylo stayed at the hospital for three more hours, sending Diamond Dog to patrol the halls and listen for anything unusual. Nothing.  
It wasn't long before Snoke was beyond saving. He died, and Kylo went home feeling hopeless.  
Rumors quickly spread that in the autopsy, Snoke's guts spilled out of his body like soup at the first incision. The funeral was closed-casket. The eulogy described him as a philanthropist, a man of the people, but everyone knew he was unloved by all, his underlings a crowd of squabbling dogs begging for scraps from his table.  
Kylo felt a swell of pride when the news broke that Hux would take the vacated position as head of the Order. He could think of no one more qualified.  
He came to Snoke's - no, Hux's house, and entered the ballroom. Everyone who was someone had already arrived to pledge their fealty to their new leader.  
Hux, who was seated at the top of the stairs in a large red chair not unlike a throne, dressed in a midnight blue suit with a crimson tie, opened his arms wide. "Ren, you've finally arrived. Come to me, my dear assassin."  
Kylo felt all eyes on him as he ascended the stairs. He knelt at Hux's feet and pressed his lips to Hux's knuckles. "I pledge my fealty to you."  
"I know." Hux smiled warmly down at him. "Come with me, I wish to speak with you in private." He stood and gestured for Kylo to follow.  
As they walked down the hall to Snoke's old office, Hux purred, "Bring out your Diamond Dog to listen for eavesdroppers."  
Kylo nodded and obeyed, and his stand followed behind them.  
Hux opened the door and walked to the chair behind the desk. "Is there anyone listening?"  
"No, sir."  
"Good." He leaned back in his chair…  
... and looked at Diamond Dog.  
“You’re a stand user now?” Kylo’s face broke into a grin. “That’s wonderful! What does it look like? What does it do?”  
“Now?” Hux chuckled. “I’ve been a stand user longer than you have.”  
“But… you’ve never seen Diamond Dog before.”  
“I trained myself to pass perfectly as an ordinary person.” Hux got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the desk, a devilish smile on his lips. “Diamond Dog could roar in my face right now and I wouldn’t flinch. You see, I conquered fear when I was very young. When I stole the arrow from Snoke and pierced my heart with it, I was truly ready to die. I couldn’t continue living under my father’s thumb anymore. So I would either be freed from him in death, or I would kill him. And I was given life, and something more.”  
At that moment, Kylo just barely heard a faint buzzing in his ear. A tiny, almost imperceptible glint of light darted from the space next to him to the desk. Hux lifted the magnifying glass from his stationery set and held it over the desk. “Come look at it.”  
Kylo leaned over and saw a tiny beetle, black with white stripes across its wings, sitting on the table. It was smaller than a grain of rice.  
“Is that your stand?”  
Hux looked down upon it fondly, like a father looks at his baby. “It is. I call it Scorpion. I killed my father with its power. It flew into his mouth one evening while he was shoveling gobs of dinner into his mouth. It lay dormant until it reached his center, when it secreted caustic chemicals that ate away at his insides until his body was reduced to mush. So too have I laid in wait in the belly of the beast until the perfect moment to strike.”  
“You… You killed Snoke?” He took a step back, in shock.  
Hux raised an eyebrow. “I did. Is that a problem?”  
Kylo paused. Was it? He’d sworn to protect Snoke. He searched for Snoke's killer for hours, grew furious and despondent when he failed. Surely he should be enraged.  
However, even as he swore fealty to him, he despised the old man. He was grateful the spider was gone and even more so that Hux was the man to replace him. He loved Hux.  
“No.”  
Hux stroked his hair. “Good. I care far too much for you to let a silly thing like Snoke’s murder come between us. Now, don't forget, this is our little secret." He drew close and tenderly kissed Kylo's lips.  
When he pulled away, Kylo whispered, "Yes, sir."  
Hux patted his cheek. "Good dog."

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on twitter @goth_gunnywolf


End file.
